Clarence “Big House” Gaines was born in Paducah, KY, in 1923. He was an All-American football player at Morgan State College (later University) in Baltimore, MD. From 1946 to 1993, he was the head basketball coach at Winston-Salem State University (formerly Winston-Salem Teachers College), where he won the NCAA Division II championship in 1967. When he retired, he was the winningest active coach in college basketball. Gaines, who is enshrined in seven Halls of Fame, was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Coach Gaines died in April 2005, but is remembered with the highest esteem by the basketball community and by everyone who knew him, worked with him and played for him.
Clarence “Big House” Gaines was born in Paducah, KY, in 1923. He was an All-American football player at Morgan State College (later University) in Baltimore, MD. From 1946 to 1993, he was the head basketball coach at Winston-Salem State University (formerly Winston-Salem Teachers College), where he won the NCAA Division II championship in 1967. When he retired, he was the winningest active coach in college basketball. Gaines, who is enshrined in seven Halls of Fame, was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Coach Gaines died in April 2005, but is remembered with the highest esteem by the basketball community and by everyone who knew him, worked with him and played for him. 